Like any Broken Carrier, Ethan did not know what his element was. Unlike the other youths at the ceremony, he did not see his element in the center of the circle. Leyla, however, had bright flashes of lightning when her turn came, and everyone saw her Full Circle.

This did not mean that Ethan or Menir did not have an element. Every living creature had an affinity with one element or another, not only Carriers and monsters, but even ordinary people and harmless animals.

Sure, for Ethan and Menir, this was no longer a problem because they became the True Carriers. Now they could learn their elements, although nothing prevented them from guessing their true nature since, despite a Broken Circle, their abilities used the features of their element.

If Leyla were a Broken Carrier, her element would be obvious from her first ability — lightning. Sometimes the element wasn't so straightforward, some had water or fire, while others, like Menir, had something more complex, but her element influenced all of her abilities.

Now it was Ethan's turn.

He only had one Catalyst, like every First Rank Carrier, which gave him his ability - the Triumvirate Path. The differences in his Patterns weren't as obvious in appearance as Menir's, but it was clear that he had some connection to darkness or destructive power.

One thing was clear: Ethan was yet to face his element, and it was happening right now.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The streams of leaves that were trying to stop Ethan and prevent him from doing anything could no longer hold their shape. The gray-purple aura emanating from Ethan destroyed their form, forcing them to break apart.

The Essence attempted to consume Ethan, binding their energies together, but this proved to be a grave mistake. However, the Essence did not know that this was the worst possible decision against Ethan, who wielded chaos.

Chaos was considered the other side of order. It was not a mistake, but its applications could vary greatly. From the perspective of chaos, a solid, immovable structure was the order, while a stream of water flowing in random trajectories was not.

The leaves controlled by the Essence were a single structure, but as soon as they touched the chaos dormant in Ethan's inner space, everything fell apart. Their foundation was damaged, no longer allowing them to be a single entity, which led to the current result.

Ethan's furious gaze fixed on the Essence while his Circle continued to spin to get rid of the green streams of energy that were still trying to harm Ethan.

"You... What were you trying to do?"

It was unclear if the Essence understood what Ethan said, but his gaze showed his intentions.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ethan clenched his fist tightly and struck the Essence with all his might.

Normally, to subdue the Essence, one would have to suppress it with their energy, but given Ethan's situation, that was not an option.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The Essence trembled, its frame became unstable, but the orb could do nothing to Ethan. His chaos prevented the Essence from consuming him.

"Come on. It's time to end this. You have no chance of escaping. It's time to leave these lands and make way for another!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Under Ethan's barrage of blows, the Essence trembled, condensing and shrinking several times in size. Along with this, the roots of the great tree calmed down, returning to the ground and hiding the traces of battle along with the bodies of the Wooden Warriors, dragging them under the soil.

The green orb floated in front of Ethan, and he took it with both hands, as he could hardly hold it with one hand.

However, gradually, the Essence continued to condense, becoming smaller and harder, almost to the state of a crystal.

"And what was that?" Ethan asked as his consciousness shifted to his inner space, looking at his Circle.

Previously, the center was empty, but now, the gray-purple flame did not attempt to hide from him. A similar flame was in the Energy Core of the Voracious Plant, differing only in color and function.

The Elements did not look like symbols or emblems on signs in front of forges and taverns, they were energy, like any other in this world, but with their properties that differed from place to place and from creature to creature.

"What is this... chaos?" Ethan muttered, confused. "The old man told me a lot about the elements. He said not to expect to see anything ordinary, because every person is unique."

Shaking his head, Ethan opened his eyes and returned to the real world. The Elements were not abilities, someone with the fire element could not turn energy into flames at will and burn everything in their path.

They were the foundation that contributed to each ability and power of the Carrier, some more, some less.

Step. Step. Step.

Footsteps sounded behind him as Ethan turned to see Menir and Leyla running toward the tree.

"You did it...?" Leyla asked in a trembling voice. "You actually got the Essence of Rotten Forest!"

Ethan nodded weakly, staring at the green orb.

"Yes. But..."

Suddenly, his gaze darkened, and his voice filled with coldness.

"This is not something you should be happy about."

"H-Hah?" Leyla let out a nervous laugh. "What are you talking about?"

For a moment, a smirk appeared on Menir's face, but she quickly regained her stern expression.

"Did you think we would share the Essence with you? It was our hunt and our prey, all of it."

Leyla's indignation quickly turned to rage. She could see that Ethan and Menir were serious.

"No! You can't do this to me! This is fucking unfair!"

Ethan stepped forward, so close that their foreheads almost clashed.

"That's the point, Leyla. The fact that you're rich and talented is unfair to many other people. However, I don't blame you. No one can choose where or who they're born to. Your behavior is another matter, but I'm not punishing you for that. I'm not punishing you at all."

Shaking his head, Ethan moved forward, hiding the Essence in his inner pocket.

"It's just your turn to be on the side of those who suffer from injustice. Feel at least a drop of this bitter, bottomless ocean, but one that can teach you a lot."

Leyla turned away with trembling lips, her gaze showing that she was not used to such a harsh world, but she had no choice.